


A Quick Detour

by orphan_account



Series: The Ellen and Jo Chronicles [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adventure, Canon Compliant, Colorado, During Canon, Gen, Missing Scene, Monster of the Week, POV Ellen Harvelle, POV Jo Harvelle, Protective Ellen Harvelle, Protective Jo Harvelle, School, Students, Travel, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25638025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After the events of Good God, Y'All!, Ellen and Jo are on their way to their next case in the Grand Canyon when they hear news of several students at a Colorado school going missing. They investigate, and end up saving the lives of two young women.
Relationships: Ellen Harvelle & Jo Harvelle
Series: The Ellen and Jo Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858546
Kudos: 3





	A Quick Detour

"So. Where to next?" Ellen asked her daughter as they drove out of the war-torn Colorado town they had nearly lost their lives to. "Straight to the Grand Canyon case or should we take a detour?"

Before Jo could reply, their new police scanner lit up with an incoming report.

"Dispatch. Seventh missing student over the period of one week from Trout Stream Girls' School, Grand Junction, Colorado. I repeat. That is the seventh missing -"

"Gotta love those things," Jo said, looking at the scanner fondly. "Look like something supernatural to you?"

"I don't know," Ellen replied. "It could just be people."

Jo shook her head, looking sick. "God, I hope not. Can't even think about that. I don't think it is though. When I was with Rufus, he mentioned hearing talk of a vamp problem in Grand Junction."

"You think this is vampires?" Ellen twisted in her seat to fix Jo with a sharp look.

"Might be, might not be. But it's not too far off the route to the Canyon."

"A detour it is then" Ellen nodded, and mother and daughter sat in comfortable silence for a while, until a sudden memory came back to Jo.

"Mum?"

"Hmm?

"You're not a black-eyed bitch."

Ellen huffed out a laugh.

Jo thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I'm going to take a nap," she said.

"Go right ahead. It's obvious you need it."

Jo mock-glared at her mother, but the motion of the car was soothing and the air was warm. Soon she was completely out, leaving Ellen to wonder what the future held for the woman she'd failed to protect from the life they were both a part of. It made sense, she mused. Jo had been born to hunters, grown up around hunters, been friends with hunters. It was hardly a surprise that she would turn into one.

The car moved steadily on until, around an hour later, it came to an abrupt stop in front of a gated checkpoint. 

"Security's tight round here," Ellen commented as she rolled down her window. 

"Purpose of your visit today?" the man in the booth asked.

"I'm Officer Jenkins, and this is my partner Officer Amis. We're here about the recent disappearances," Ellen said, as she and a yawning Jo held up their badges.

"Well I hope you can do more than the last two," the man told them. "Not to be rude, but they weren't even trying to help. Just tied themselves in ridiculous knots, said some stuff about blood and then left fast as they could. I'm Tony Miller, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you, Tony," Jo said. "Tell me, the security around this place. Is it in response to the situation or has it always been like this?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, but that's what makes the disappearances so strange to me. We've always been extremely strict where safety is concerned. Want the parents to feel safe leaving their kids here, whether for a day or more."

"More?" Ellen asked.

"For the boarding students, y'see?"

Both women nodded.

"Anyway, unless there's something else I can help you with, I'll let you ladies get on. If you drive straight and then take a left, you'll come to the reception, over there."

"That's all. Thank you, Tony," Ellen said, as he lifted the automatic gate and allowed them into the school compound.

The main car park was less than a minute's drive from the checkpoint and, soon, Ellen and Jo were showing their fake ID badges to one of the young women sitting behind the receptionists' counter.

"We're here to investigate the missing students," Ellen explained. 

"Here you are, Officer Jenkins," the receptionist smiled, handing a file with the victims' names, photographs, ages, parental occupations and other details to Ellen. 

"Have you noticed anything strange about the victims, any kind of behaviour that seemed out of the ordinary before they went missing, er... Lisa?" Jo asked while her mother read through the documents in the missing persons file. 

"Well, no. I just thought, for a moment, but no. It's nothing," Lisa said. 

Jo waited. 

"I don't want to imply anything," Lisa eventually continued nervously. "It's just, I see a lot of the students walking in their friend groups and they'll be different sizes. But the girls who went missing, I only ever saw them walking in pairs." 

"Just them and a friend?" Jo wondered where this was going. 

"It's not that that's unusual, not really. But, every single one of the girls was like that. The friends are all day students, the victims all boarders, which in itself was strange. But it was more than that. Those pairs would seem to get on so well, y'know. Real close. But then you'd get these kind of scared looks, when they thought no-one could see them."

"The victims looked scared of their friends?" Jo clarified. 

Lisa nodded. "But we had the girls here for interviews when the other officers came and they seemed... Wait," she looked suddenly suspicious, "Why are you asking me about this? Shouldn't you already know about all that?" 

"We do," Ellen jumped in calmly, "They sent us here to get a fresh viewpoint. See if we could find anything our colleagues missed." 

"Shouldn't be too difficult," Lisa muttered, before looking apologetic. "No offence to your colleagues." 

"None taken," Ellen shrugged. "You were saying?" 

"Oh! The girls, yes. Real torn up about it. Couple of them looked in shock." 

"They better now?," Jo asked. 

"A little. You'll be wanting to speak to them?" 

"Unfortunately we do have to interview them again. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the more chance we have of recovering the missing girls and preventing this happening again," Ellen said firmly. 

"Of course," Lisa nodded. "I'll tannoy. Why don't you two take a seat while we wait?" 

Ellen and Jo thanked her and went to sit down, while the tannoy system announced that Rebecca Wilkins, Monica Jackson, Leah Heath, Trinnie Thompson, Anne Gyles, Evie Rin and Evelyn Thomas were to 'please make your way to reception immediately'. 

"Any connection between the victims?" Jo asked, glancing at the file Ellen had left with Lisa. 

"Nada," Ellen sighed. "Different ages, ethnicities, hobbies, home towns. No link, except for them all being boarders." 

"So our only lead is their friends and that one fact?" Jo asked. 

Ellen nodded.

Before they could discuss it any further, a group of three teenagers had started to make their way from the door at one end of the reception to the desk next to the main entrance. 

"We heard the tannoy," the tallest one told Lisa.

"Yes, thank you, Evelyn. Girls, over there are Officers Jenkins and Amis. They want to talk to you."

"Again?" 

"Shh Leah," the girl called Evelyn whispered. "If they want to talk to us, they'll talk to us. Whether we want to or not. And anyway, we want justice. Right, Rebecca?" 

"Right," Rebecca said reluctantly.

"So come on," Evelyn commanded, leading the other two girls towards the seating area. 

During the exchange, Ellen and Jo shared a look. Several things seemed off. The girls were in different years and supposedly had only met during the previous police interview. Three of them coming into reception together? That was plausible, given the timing of the tannoy and the structure of the school. But Evelyn's clear social position within the group and their nervous looks and secretive behaviour? Neither hunter could explain those away and, for that reason, they suspected the victim's friends were not the innocently bereaved girls they hoped to be treated as. 

"Vampires?" Jo mouthed, eying Evelyn. 

"Shh," Ellen hissed, before turning around to greet the group, now containing the other four kids, with a comforting smile. 

"Thank you all for coming," she started, "I'm Officer Jenkins and this is my partner Officer Amis. We're here about the -"

"The disappearances. We know," Leah hissed, "You're here to ensure they get justice. Well they won't, because it's too late - ouch!" 

"What Leah means," Evelyn said through gritted teeth. "Is that of course we'll help you." The dip on Leah's left boot, where Evelyn had stepped on it, was still in the process of returning to normal. "We're devastated, obviously."

"We just want you to take this seriously," a softly-spoken young woman who introduced herself as Trinnie added. 

"And you can stop treating us like we bloody did it!" Leah growled. "Those other officers kept asking so many questions. It was infuriating." 

"Were they right?" Jo regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. The receptionist next to Lisa clearly disapproved too because she immediately jumped up, no doubt to intervene. 

"Jo!" Ellen said angrily. "I apologise for my partner," this was directed at the receptionist who slowly sat back down again. 

"Leah, can I ask you a question?" Ellen said carefully. 

Leah's expression clearly indicated her negative answer but, before she could say a word, Evelyn had replied for her and the girl had nodded.

"Why did the other officers assume you had done something wrong?" 

"Because," Leah thought for a moment, "Because they heard us discussing something and - ouch, Evelyn!" 

"What were you discussing?" Jo asked.

Whether because it was Jo who asked the question or because of the severe look Evelyn pinned Leah with, nothing more could be got from Leah, not with Ellen's alternative coaxing and empty threats of arrest. Eventually one of the other girls jumped in and asked if they could return to class and Ellen, seeing Lisa's colleague's beady eyes watching them and her fingers hovering near the telephone, decided they did not need a run-in with the real police and would wrap up there. 

"Should have got that Leah-girl alone," Jo sighed as they left the building. 

"You shouldn't have done anything. What did I tell you about putting monsters on their guard?" Ellen said severely. 

"Got some useful info though, didn't I?" Jo shrugged. "I get it. I'll be more careful," she snapped, when Ellen's expression did not change. 

"You better be," Ellen said, "If you want to survive in this life, no more rookie mistakes. Got it?" 

Jo wanted to tell her mother that she was not a child and could look after herself. However, she knew Ellen was right and that mistakes that looked small from the outside could get you killed. Understanding that her mother was not trying to be controlling, not on this issue at least, Jo nodded and promised to be more careful in future. Ellen gave a noncommittal grunt, torn between skepticism on whether Jo would be able to follow through and relief that she was willing to try. She would have given anything for her daughter to have finished her college course and gone on to get a normal job but seeing as that was clearly not going to happen, she'd have to make peace with a hunter daughter. It would take time, but she was getting there. She had allowed Jo back under her roof (her car roof to be precise. Neither of them had much of their own roof since the Roadhouse had been destroyed) after all. 

"So we're gonna sit in the car til home time, then trail them?" Jo asked, bringing Ellen out of her thoughts. 

"That's the plan," Ellen replied, "Not here, we'll be too obvious. Move to the side of the building." 

"And that will still give us a view of the exit when they leave. I've checked the maps and there's no other way in or out." 

"Good," Ellen said. 

"We'll recover those kids," Jo added. 

"Try to," Ellen corrected.

Jo sighed but didn't argue. Ellen was right, no matter how strongly Jo wished she wasn't. Why did this job have to be so damn hard sometimes? She pushed that thought aside and focused on what her father would have done. On what he would have wanted her to do. She was strong. She could do this.

* * *

"I see them," Jo exclaimed a long while later, as Leah, Evelyn and Rebecca left the school together.

"Beginning to doubt their involvement," Ellen said, shaking her head.

Jo raised her eyebrows, confused.

"Either they want us to follow them and this is a trap, or -" Ellen said while starting the car and following the group in it.

"Or they're just really stupid. Leaving obvious hints, walking together," Jo finished the thought. "Huh, that is odd."

Ellen's point was proven when Leah began to shout. Both women strained their ears to hear her. 

"It's not my fault Anne said that thing about their blood tasting nice in front of the police! Stop telling me to be quiet. No one tells you to be quiet..." 

"So these are vamps," Ellen sighed. "Figures. Surely it's not just these kid ones?" 

Ellen glanced up, only to see the group being joined by a familiar figure in smart clothes and high heels. The second receptionist. 

"So she gets a job at Trout Stream, starts turning kids. Gets the kids to lure their friends. How wouldn't the families notice?" Jo asked, as they slowly made their way along Pitkin Avenue.

"No," Ellen replied, "Assuming she did turn them, which she might not have, I'd say she gets the kids off the street, or drug rehab. Vulnerable children. Then she lands the job, sets up a nest. Makes fake IDs for them, fake addresses. Enrolls them on the free non-boarding state program, probably over a period of several months to avoid making anyone suspicious. One thing doesn't add up though.

"What's that?" 

"What's the end goal in all this?" Ellen mused thoughtfully. 

"Eating," Jo suggested cheekily as Ellen turned onto South Fifth Street. 

"Not what I meant, honey," Ellen replied.

"You mean what happens next," Jo said. "They take the kids and then what? Befriend a new set of students. If those students went missing, the police would really be onto them."

"Unless -" Ellen started, before breaking sharply and parking by the side of the road as Evelyn unlocked a warehouse door and the group disappeared into the gloom inside. Jo jumped out and Ellen followed, explaining her idea that the nest was probably about to move to a new state and start the same process over again, as soon as the vamps had finished feeding off the kidnapped students.

As they got closer, Jo took a step forward to attack. Ellen immediately grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Not that way. They'll see us. We need to surprise them. Come on, we'll go round the back."

"Fine," Jo said. "But we've gotta be quick. Someone could be dying."

"We could be dying if we're not careful," Ellen scoffed. "You especially, with that run in, save the day kind of attitude. I don't care if the Winchester boys win every fight they do that way. You sure as hell aint going to."

"But if it saves someone," Jo argued.

"See, this is why I don't want you hunting, Joanna Harvelle. You ain't going to save anyone if you're dead."

"Mum -" Jo started.

"No. I'm really really serious here. We have had so many close calls lately, it's a wonder either of us are still breathing. Keep going like this and we won't be. I can't lose you too Jo," Ellen finished, voice breaking.

"You won't," Jo whispered, "I promise you won't."

Ellen nodded, though Jo could not see her face. She had turned it away to hide her unshed tears and it was a good few moments before her voice became steady again.

"Have a look in, will you honey?" she asked. "See if the others are back yet."

Jo climbed up to a high window to take a peak, before turning around and shaking her head. "They'll return later," she told her mother. "The receptionist is on guard, but at the front entrance. The others all seem to be asleep in their hammocks."

"I'll take the front then," Ellen decided. "You break the window and go straight down to the hammocks. Get them that way. You ready?"

"I'm ready," Jo nodded.

"Take Evelyn first. Then the others," Ellen added, before slipping away to make her shock attack on the leader.

Jo waited until her mother was engaged with the receptionist and then broke the window. The sound startled the vampire, giving Ellen the chance she needed. The leader dealt with, Ellen ran across the building to help Jo down and, together, they took on Evelyn. She went down easily - for all her earlier confidence, she had never learnt to fight. If Evelyn was bad, Leah and Rebecca were worse and, soon, the only noises remaining in the warehouse were Ellen and Jo's heavy breathing and the quiet sobbing of one of the victims. The girl next to her was totally silent.

Aware that the battle was not yet over, Ellen hid behind the door, hoping to ambush the four remaining vampires when they returned. Meanwhile, Jo rushed over to the tied-up students. The crying girl looked around twelve. Of more concern was the young woman next to her. Jo found a weak pulse and quickly released her from her restraints.

Laying her down on the ground, she cleaned and bandaged the girl's cuts, not looking up when she heard her mother fight and win against Trinnie and Monica. Evie and Anne slipped in just as Jo began to pour cool water down the girl's throat, making her cough and splutter. As Anne died, however, the older girl gave a quiet scream.

"I knew her before," she mumbled. "We met as children, once. Lost contact. And then she was in my class and I was so happy, for a while."

"Shh, it's okay," Jo soothed her, "Save your strength. You've been through a lot. We'll help you."

The younger girl coughed, reminding the women that their job was not finished. Ellen, having taken care of the vampires, was at her side in a flash, holding the child up and reassuring her as Jo made quick work of her bindings. This time Ellen did the first aid, surprised and relieved to see that the extent of the injuries was far less than those on the other victim. From the file, she remembered the child's name to be Anita and the older girl to be Trixabelle.

"Alright, girls, that's you cleaned up as well as we can do. Trixabelle, we need to get you to a hospital, fast. Anita, do you know any near here?"

"St Mary's," Anita said, "I'll tell you where."

Between them, Ellen and Jo carried Trixabelle to the car, with Anita leaning on them when her strength failed her which, after several days of restricted movement, it often did.

The ride was short and tense. Trixabelle became increasingly paler and, as her colour decreased, Anita's increased and she fussed over Trixabelle more and more, in the vain hope that it would make the older girl better.

"I can't lose her," she told them. "She saved me. Every time they'd come to, you know, she'd distract them and they'd mostly do it off her instead. I should have stopped her, distracted them, but I was so scared."

"Kid," Ellen broke in firmly, "we're nearly there, everything will be okay. You have nothing to be ashamed of, you've been very brave. Now, can you be brave for me for a little bit longer?"

Hesitantly, Anita nodded.

"Good," Ellen continued, parking the car. "Jo, help me carry Trixabelle in. Anita, wait here."

Ellen would have brought Anita in to be checked immediately but Trixabelle was fading fast and Anita's jelly legs would slow them down. Anita sniffed and told them to go.

Almost running, they managed to carry the girl into the hospital's reception area while her pulse remained above forty. As soon as she was through the door and Ellen had shouted for help, clinicians were frantically working on her heart with a defibrillator. Jo's face was anxious, Ellen's grave. Happy endings were not a given, and Trixabelle's care towards Anita would not guarantee her one.

But sometimes good things _do_ happen. Trixabelle coughed, once quietly, once loudly, and opened her eyes.

"Thank God," Jo whispered.

"Anita," Trixabelle breathed.

"She's in the car. She's okay," Ellen immediately reassured her.

"Go to her," Trixabelle demanded, as she was lifted onto a stretcher and carried to a ward.

Ellen nodded and left, while Jo followed as Trixabelle was settled into a hospital bed for the night. "You should be okay but we need to keep you under observation overnight just to make sure," a doctor told Trixabelle

Trixabelle nodded, then turned to Jo. "I want to call my family," she said. "They're abroad, so they won't be able to come but I want to talk to them. They must have been worried sick. Can I use your phone."

"Here," Jo said, setting it up for her, before walking away to give Trixabelle some privacy. "Call me when you're done."

Trixabelle nodded and thanked her, dialling the familiar number from memory, slowly allowing the fact that her physical ordeal at least was over to sink in.

* * *

"Come on," Ellen told Anita once she had reached the car. "Let's get you to the hospital for a check up. I can make sure you're near Trixabelle and we'll call your parents to collect you." 

"My aunt," Anita said faintly, "I live with my aunt during the holidays."

"You have her number? Or your phone?" 

"I don't remember it. And they broke our phones. Said they didn't want one of us to get free and call for help." 

"Sounds like what a vamp would do," Ellen said wryly. 

"And those things, they were really vampires?" 

"Yes, but don't go telling people about it. They'll think you're mad, and that never ends well. Tell that to Trixabelle too, will you?" 

"Yes, ma'am," Anita replied, half-joking, half-serious. 

"Your aunt live far from here?"

"Grand Canyon Village." 

"You're joking," Ellen said. 

"No. Why?" Anita asked. 

"Jo and I, we take cases others don't deal with. Before we heard about the vamps, we were heading to Grand Canyon to check out a few things. We'll be going tonight. If you know your aunt's address, we can leave a message with her. If the hospital releases you before you hear from her, get the school to pick you up, okay?" 

"Okay," Anita nodded, giving Ellen directions to her aunt's house. "What will you tell her?" 

"I'll tell her that her niece is a damn strong kid, and so is her niece's friend and to give the pair of you a nice break as soon as possible." 

"Seriously?" 

"Not much else I can say. Now come on," Ellen led Anita to the front desk and soon had her settled in the same ward as Trixabelle, thanks in no small part to her fake police badge. 

"You're cool," Trixabelle told Anita, long after Ellen and Jo had left, after they had spoken to Anita's aunt and sorted out their own accommodation for the night. "You were brave." 

"I had a good role model," Anita replied very seriously. "Thank you." 


End file.
